Where Immortals Once Walked

“Some groups have already headed there.”

He Chunhua thought for a long while before shaking his head. “With the season of mad sand gone, western Yuan may soon descend into disorder.”

Most people treated rumors like these as idle entertainment, but He Chunhua had once governed a frontier commandery. His first thought was naturally the security of the state’s borders.

“Exactly.” Steward Wu looked equally worried. “The western border remained peaceful because of the Panlong Desert, the season of mad sand, and the Three Corpses Worms. Now that anyone can freely cross the Panlong Desert, then... then...” ℯℯ𝑙.

“Tomorrow’s troubles can wait until tomorrow.” He Chunhua waved a hand. “Forget it. For the moment, this problem is nowhere near the top of our priorities. If any more news comes from Heishui City or the Panlong Desert, report it to me immediately!”

Steward Wu departed.

* * *

He Chunhua remained where he was, lost in thought for a long time before his mind returned to He Lingchuan.

He had always known his eldest son was not dead.

He simply had not known where the boy had gone.

Now He Lingchuan had suddenly returned, sharper and more confident than before, as well as far more difficult to fathom.

Why did he come back?

The Rongshan loan was undoubtedly excellent news, but his eldest son had arranged it and was now personally handling it as the sect’s special envoy. In a sense, the entire matter had slipped beyond He Chunhua’s control as a father.

Whether from a public or private standpoint, He Chunhua disliked that change.

He was about to return to his room and change clothes when, upon crossing the central courtyard, he spotted He Lingchuan sitting halfway on the edge of a flower-bordered pond, tossing grains of rice to the fish.

Whenever the fish swam closer, he threw the rice farther away.

Whenever they swam away, he tossed it close to the bank.

The large and small koi were completely at his mercy, churning the pond until it looked like boiling water. Splashes and ripples filled the courtyard with lively noise.

He Chunhua instinctively softened his footsteps, but before he had taken more than two steps, He Lingchuan, whose back was still turned, laughed and said, “Old man, the variety in this pond is far too limited. There are only a few fat koi, and their markings aren’t even especially vivid. Why not buy some finer fish and make Mother happy?”

“Oh?” He Chunhua asked casually. “What varieties would be good?”

“Flower Spears, Rolling Embroidered Pearls, White Dragon Halberds, Seven-Colored Immortals, and Splendid Shrimps[1].” He Lingchuan rattled off a string of names. “They all grow large and beautiful.”

Beijia’s leisure industries were highly developed. Flowers, birds, and ornamental fish alone supported enormous markets. Ordinary koi could never have entered the homes of nobles on the floating islands.

“Is that so? I’ve never heard of any of them.” He Chunhua also stopped beside the pond and watched the fish. “Did our family ever keep them before?”

“No.”

“Can they be found in the Yuan capital?”

He Lingchuan laughed vaguely, still wearing the air of a carefree young wastrel. “This is my first time here. How would I know?”

He Chunhua looked at him and smiled. “Then, do they have them in Shabutou, in the State of Xuluo?”

“The fish sold there are meant to be eaten, not raised in ponds.” He Lingchuan tossed in several more grains of rice. “Of course, the carp in our pond are already quite large. If circumstances become desperate, they could make a sacrifice too.”

He Chunhua’s foot paused at the edge of the pond. One more step and he would have walked into the water. “These fish haven’t done anything wrong. Why should we eat them?”

“Whether they’re eaten has nothing to do with whether they’ve committed some offense. It depends entirely on our mood.” With every word that followed, He Lingchuan tossed another grain of rice into the pond. “What wrong could ornamental playthings like these possibly commit?”

He Chunhua fell silent for several breaths before suddenly asking, “Are you still my Chuan’er?”

The question came without warning.

He Lingchuan showed no reaction at all. He continued feeding the fish, his hand perfectly steady while the koi grew increasingly frantic.

He Chunhua’s tone remained light, almost joking. “Why do you seem like an entirely different person?”

“I’ve become accomplished. Aren’t you happy, old man? Aren’t you proud?” He Lingchuan turned to look at him. “I even secured a loan for Yuan!”

That enormous sum, which Yuan desperately needed, was also one of the assets protecting He Lingchuan. It was the weight behind his return to Yuan and his negotiations with his father.

Without him, there would be no loan.

If he disappeared, the money would disappear with him.

“You did well.” He Chunhua nodded firmly. “Very well. Without that money, I wouldn’t know how to fight the coming battles.”

Even the cleverest cook could do nothing without rice. How could a general wage war without soldiers and supplies?

“Now that the money is on its way, what does Father intend to do next?”

He Chunhua asked, “Do you want to take part, Chuan’er?”

His eldest son had deliberately shifted the subject, so He Chunhua followed him.

“What man doesn’t dream of winning glory, earning a marquisate, and rising to high office? However...” He Lingchuan lowered his voice. “The southern rebellions are one thing. The Minister of War in the northwest will be far more difficult to defeat.”

Peasant uprisings generally lacked the discipline and combat strength of regular armies. Of course, Yuan’s central army was hardly impressive at present either.

“Yuan’s civil war is a bottomless pit. Forget a mere three million taels, even if you threw in five or ten million, you might not hear so much as a splash before it all vanishes.” He Lingchuan sighed. “What do you plan to do? Although I was appointed special envoy, I don’t want my homeland to default on its debts and surrender valuable resources for nothing.”

He Chunhua asked, “What do you suggest?”

In the past, He Chunhua would never have sought this eldest son’s opinion on military strategy. He Lingchuan tossed the final handful of rice into the pond, provoking the fish into a frenzy. “Father should seek a swift and decisive victory. The rebels are advancing north, and the flames of war are nearly at Ya Province. Victory or defeat aside, the three provinces around it are among Great Yuan’s principal granaries and most important grain-producing regions. Hong Xiangqian’s rebellion, which was only suppressed last year, already cut southern grain production to less than half its usual level. If this year’s fields are abandoned because of the fighting as well, there will be no autumn harvest. When that happens...”

Great Yuan was already desperately short of food. At that time, the situation would only spiral into an even worse cycle.

He Chunhua nodded. “Your concerns are exactly the same as His Majesty’s and the court ministers’.”

His eldest son’s analysis was sound.

Has he finally stopped pretending?

“Then what is Father’s position?”

“I know all of that.” He Chunhua sighed softly. “If my army marches, it must fight. If it fights, it must win. Only then will going south mean anything. Otherwise, traveling thousands of kilometers merely to suffer defeat will crush the morale of soldiers and civilians while inflating the enemy’s confidence.” He Chunhua paused for a few moments, and then he added, “When the royal court tried to suppress Hong Xiangqian, the more they attacked him, the stronger he became. He began his uprising with barely a hundred followers, yet by the great battle at Woling Pass, he commanded tens of thousands. Was that not because every loss on our side became a gain for his?”

He Lingchuan gave a noncommittal sound.

Hong Xiangqian’s rise had involved far more than the incompetence of the official troops, but He Lingchuan did not point that out. He merely asked, “Then what does Father intend to do?”

No matter how much He Chunhua delayed, the King of Yuan’s patience was limited. No matter how capable He Chunhua was, if the king could not rely upon him, the throne would not continue treating him gently.

He Chunhua therefore had to judge precisely how far he could push matters.

“The grain, fodder, and other supplies must all keep pace with the army. Otherwise, my soldiers will reach the front only to endure hunger. Even if we originally possessed a seventy or eighty percent chance of victory, that would immediately fall to thirty or forty percent.” He Chunhua sounded furious at the court’s incompetence. “But you know what Great Yuan’s logistics are like. Even if they allocate seven million kilograms of grain to me, no more than two to three million will actually reach the front. Furthermore, even if I retake the occupied territories, how can I know the people will not rebel again if I fail to win their support?”

1. I don’t know if these are actual kinds of koi, so I just translated them literally. I couldn’t find anything on the first page after searching them up, but here are the raw names: 花枪、滚绣珠、白龙戟、七彩仙 、 斑斓虾. Pretty much all of the names are direct translations except the last one, which would have been more accurately mottled shrimp, but alliteration is enticing. ☜